Vent plug for storage batteries



NOV. 24, 1936. s E L I 2,06E,@@-

VENT PLUG FOR STORAGE BATTERIES Filed Nov. 17, 1934 INVENTOR ATTORNEY5Patented Nov. 24, 1936 PATENT OFFICE VENT PLUG FOR STORAGE BATTERIESStanley T. Campbell, Cleveland, Ohio, assignon to The Aetna RubberCompany, Cleveland,

Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application November 17, 1934, Serial No.753,497

8 Claims.

This invention relatesto vent plugs for storage batteries.

As storage batteries are most commonly made and used at the presenttime, they consist of an outer case with a number of cells, usuallythree. These cells are closed by covers which are generally made of hardrubber and are arranged side by side at the top of the battery, eachcover having adjacent its opposite ends openings through which postsextend from the interior of the cells and having between the posts avent plug which is screwed into an internally threaded annular flangeportion forming a part of the molded cover.

It is common practice for battery manufacturers to prominently displaytheir name or trademark on one or both sides of the battery case andalso on the top of the vent plugs. Furthermore, it is becoming more andmore the practice of storage battery manufacturers to so finish theirbatteries that they are neat and attractive in appearance, for it hasbeen found that retail purchasers are often influenced in purchasing aparticular make by the appearance of the battery and will frequentlyselect a particular make of battery from others which may be displayedside by side on the retailer's counter or shelf, being influenced in sodoing more by appearance than by actual quality or merit. However, asvent plugs have heretofore been made, the manufacturers name ortrade-mark at the top of the various vent plugs did not line up witheach other or with the sides ofthe battery, as would be high- 1ydesirable from the standpoint of appearance, for the reason that it isvirtually impossible to mold vent plugs and the threaded openings intowhich they are screwed with such accuracy that, when the several ventplugs are tightened, the desired alignment is obtained. On the otherhand, when the plugs are screwed in place and tightened, the names ortrade-marks will almost invariably stand at different angles withrespect to each other and to the side of the battery, so that the effectand appearance are not at all as desired.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a novelconstruction of vent plug such that the top of the plug is moldedseparately from the body portion and is so formed and assembled andinterfitted with the body of the plug that the top portion, which is inthe form of a disk, can be turned or adjusted so that the manufacturer'sname or trade-mark on the several vent plugs will always be aligned witheach other and with the front side of the battery when the plugs arescrewed in place and tightened.

The invention may be briefly summarized as consisting in certain detailsof construction and combinations and arrangements of parts which will bedescribed in the specification and set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings where- 5 in I have shown thepreferred embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a three-cell battery equipped with ventplugs made in accordance with the present invention and showing by 10full lines the top disks of the vent plugs positioned so as to align themanufacturers name or trademark and by dotted lines the positions whichthey generally assume before the adjustment is made;

Fig. 2 is a detached view of one of the battery 15 covers showing howthe disk is adjusted to properly position it so that the object of theinvention may be attained;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the vent plug detached; and 20 Fig. 4 is atop plan view of the vent plug with a portion broken away.

Referring now to the drawing, I 0 represents the battery case which maybe of any desired construction, and H represents the cell covers havingat their opposite ends openings for the upstanding posts lla, eachhaving at its center a vent plug l2 which,.together with the cover, isgenerally molded from hard rubber, and, as before stated, the vent plugsare generally screwed into internally threaded flanged portions of thecover.

Referring to Figs. 3 and 4, it will be seen that each of the vent plugsI2 is provided with a cylindrical body portion l3 which may be knurledor slightly ribbed on its upright wall to facilitate the removal andrestoration of the plugs when it is desired to fill the cells with wateror electrolyte. Likewise, each plug has a reduced externally threadedshank portion M which is screwed into the appropriate part of the celluntil a shoulder 15 at the top of the threaded shank M seats upon anupstanding flange surrounding the filling opening in the battery cover.The body portion 03 and the shank portion M are hollow, and in thisinstance the interior hollow space is divided by an integrally formedpartition l6 located near the lower end of the shank portion andpreferably rounded and provided with a vent opening ll located centrallyof the partition or at the lowest point thereof so that the acid whichcollects in the upper part of the chamber, due to the bursting of gasbubbles, will readily drain back into the battery.

The top of the vent plug is closed by a separately molded flat stiffdisk I8 which has a close frictionally-tight fit in the top of the bodyportion l3 of the vent plug, the closeness or tightness of the fit beingsuch that the disk can be turned in the manner hereinafter explained,and, after being turned or adjusted, will remain in the desired positionwithout danger of its falling out of place or of turning accidentally byvibration, jars, and the like. In this instance there is an annularshoulder I9 formed just inside and below the top of the body portion l3,and the upstanding annular wall outside of and extending above thisshoulder is slightly undercut. The disk it rests upon this shoulder andits peripheral edge is slightly beveled so as to fit or correspond tothe undercutting or beveling of the upper part of the wall of the bodyportion l3 immediately above the shoulder l9 upon which the disk rests.The disk is provided near its periphery with a pair of vent openings 20,and between these openings the manufacturers name or trade-mark,indicated conventionally at 2!, is molded generally with upstanding orembossed letters so that they can be painted to make them stand outprominently. Also, the top of the disk may be otherwise ornamented byupstanding or embossed lines, as may be desired. Usually, the embossedletters and lines, which may include an embossed circle at the peripheryof the disk, project above the top of the body portion of the plug, thefiat top of the disk being preferably flush with the top edge of thebody portion. The indicia 2i and the associated features ofornamentation may be termed display matter, and, as that term is used inthe specification and claims hereof, it is intended to include anyidentifying mark or symbol, such as the name or trade-mark of themanufacturer, or features of ornamentation, or both.

The parts of the vent plug are assembled in a very novel manner which isuseful and produces important results in different ways. With the partsproportioned as desired in the finished vent plug, it would bedifficult, and impossible in most instances, to force the disk down inthe undercut groove in the vent plug body. Accordingly, the disks areplaced in the vent plug bodies when the latter are still hot from themolding and vulcanizing operation, but the disks themselves having beenpreviously molded and cooled before being inserted in the tops of theplug bodies. When the disks are inserted in the plug bodies while thelatter are still hot. they drop easily and readily onto the shouldersl9, and then the plug bodies shrink, and, in so doing, they grip theperipheral tapered edges of the disks. Furthermore, when the tops of thesoft vent plug bodies are shrunk onto the cooled hard disks, the lattercause the shrinkage to take place uniformly and prevent the otherwiseopen tops of the plug bodies becoming distorted and getting out of roundwhile they are cooling and shrinking.

When the top portions of the plug bodies are shrunk onto the disks, theygrip the peripheral tapered edges of the disk tightly enough to holdthem securely in place but still not too tightly to prevent the disksbeing turned with a suitable tool, such as a specially formed spannerwrench 22, indicated in Fig. 2, having two prongs adapted to be insertedin the oppositely spaced vent openings 20. In this manner the disks atthe tops of the vent plugs can be positioned so that, when the plugs arescrewed into the vent plug openings and tightened. the display matter onthe several vent plugs will be aligned with each other and with thefront side of the battery, as is desired.

The disk N3 of each vent plug need only be turned or adjusted once andthen, initially, when the vent plug is first screwed into the cover, forthe vent plugs are so made that whenever they are removed from thecovers and later restored and tightened with the usual pressure, theplugs occupy the same position as before so that the relative positionsof the display matter on the several top disks remain as before, and,furthermore, the top disk will not change its position by vibration orotherwise. At the same time, the tightness of fit of the disk in theupper part of the plug is not so great, and the strength and stiffnessof the disk are such that the disk is not liable to be broken by theturning force exerted by the tool 22 used in adjusting the disk.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A vent plug for storage batteries comprising a hard molded hollowbody portion and a separately formed top in the form of a stiff diskhaving display matter thereon, said disk being seated in andfrictionally held closely in the top of the body portion by the latterso that the disk will be held in place against accidental turning but iscapable of being turned to properly position the display matter of thedisk, said disk being provided with one or more openings for ventingpurposes and to receive a tool by which the disk may be turned.

2. A vent plug comprising a hard molded body portion having a lowerthreaded part and an enlarged upper part with a chamber therein, aninternal shoulder formed adjacent the periphery and top of the bodyportion, a separate closure for the top of the chamber consisting of asubstantially fiat stiff disk having display matter thereon, said diskbeing seated on said shoulder and held frictionally tight thereon by theadjacent part of the body portion but turnable to adjust the position ofthe disk so as to align the display matter on the disk, said disk beingprovided with one or more openings for venting purposes and forreceiving a wrench by which the disk may be turned.

3. A vent plug comprising a hard molded body portion having a lowerthreaded part and an enlarged upper part with a chamber therein, aninternal shoulder formed adjacent the periphery at the top of the bodyportion, and a separate closure for the top consisting of asubstantially flat stiff disk having display matter thereon, said diskbeing seated on said shoulder and held frictionally tight thereon by theadjacent part of the body portion but turnable to adjust the position ofthe disk so as to align the display matter on the disk, the wall of thebody portion above the shoulder being slightly undercut, said diskhaving one or more openings for venting purposes and to receive a toolby which the disk may be turned.

4. A vent plug comprising a hard molded body portion having a lowerthreaded part and an enlarged upper part with a chamber therein, aninternal shoulder formed adjacent the periphery at the top of the bodyportion, and a separate closure for the top consisting of asubstantially flat stiff disk having display matter thereon, said diskbeing seated on said shoulder and held frictionally tight thereon by theadjacent part of the body portion but turnable to adjust the position ofthe disk so as to align the display matter on the disk, the wall of thebody portion above the shoulder being slightly undercut and theperiphery of the disk having its edge beveled to conform to saidundercut, said disk having one or more openings for venting purposes andto receive a tool by which the disk may be turned.

5. A vent plug for storage batteries comprising a hollow hard moldedbody portion and a separate top closure in the form of a substantiallyflat, circular, stiff disk seated in a groove at the top of the bodyportion, the latter being shrunk onto the periphery of the disk so as tofrictionally hold it in place, the disk having display matter thereonandbeing provided with one or more openings for venting gases from thebattery cell and for receiving a wrench to turn the disk to properlyposition the display matter with reference to other parts of thebattery.

6. A vent plug for storage batteries comprising a hollow hard moldedbody portion having a circular top with a shoulder a short distancebelow the top edge and an undercut wall above the shoulder, and aclosure for the top of the body portion in the form of a stiff diskhaving display matter thereon, said disk being seated on the shoulderwith the body portion shrunk on the disk while so seated, whereby it isheld closely in the top of the body portion against accidental turningbut is capable of being turned to properly position the display matterof the disk, said disk hav-- ing one or more openings for ventingpurposes and to receive a tool by which the disk may be turned.

7. A closure, comprising: body means, adapted to act as the closure; andface means for said body means, carrying indicia, and secured to saidbody means shiftable relative to said body means after said body meansis in position, to provide for positioning of said face means to bringsaid indicia in desired position relative to said body means. said facemeans having means engageable to effect such shifting.

8. A vent plug for storage batteries comprising a body portion, and aclosure for the top of the body portion in the form of a disk havingdisplay matter thereon, said disk being secured to the top of said bodyportion but shiftable relative thereto to provide for the positioning ofsaid disk to bring the display matter into the desired position relativeto the body portion, said disk having means engageable to effect suchshifting.

STANLEY T. CAMPBELL.

